Raptors’ Immanuel Quickley sends special shoutout to unheralded teammate

The Toronto Raptors have been humbled in recent days, as they were served humble pie by the Charlotte Hornets in a 118-111 overtime loss on Saturday and they were knocked down a peg or two when they lost by 24 to the New York Knicks on Sunday night. But on Tuesday, the Raptors returned to winning ways, as they held off a hard charge from the Portland Trail Blazers on their way to a 121-118 victory.

As this Raptors squad has typically done all season long, they won as a team — with three players scoring 20 points or more in Scottie Barnes (28), Immanuel Quickley (23), and Brandon Ingram (21). But beyond the scoring column or even the box score, Quickley wanted to give credit to a more unheralded teammate of his in Jakob Poeltl.

Poeltl may have finished with a rather pedestrian 11-point, seven-rebound, and four-assist night, but make no mistake about it, Quickley recognizes how important he is for the Raptors.

“I’ve gotta give a shoutout to Jakob. He’s one of the best screen setters I’ve played with and is such an unselfish player… He does so much stuff for us that doesn’t show up in the stat sheet. You’ve gotta give him a lot of credit. We appreciate him a lot,” Quickley said, per Josh Lewenberg of TSN.

Indeed, Poeltl is a key piece for this Raptors team, and a lot of his contributions go beyond the stat sheet. He was sorely missed on Sunday night in their 118-94 defeat against the Knicks, and it’s no coincidence that they played so much better with him back out there on the court.

Raptors hold on for important win against the Blazers

With the Raptors heading back home, it was important for them to get back on the winning track, especially against a Blazers team that was missing a few key guys. Considering their lofty aspirations in the weakened Eastern Conference, they have to get every winnable game they can, and they did, even though they almost lost it in the end with Portland mounting a furious comeback.

The Raptors will be back in action on Thursday to face the Los Angeles Lakers at home at 7:30 PM E.T.

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